Smart tries out 4.5G internet for the first time in PH

Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) is completing the rollout of the country’s first 4.5G or Long Term Evolution (LTE)-Advanced (LTE-A) service in Boracay, Aklan by the end of this month – in preparation for its 5G (5th generation) services by 2020.

Even so, the telecommunications giant will not be getting rid of their 3G technology, as 90% of internet users in the Philippines still use it today.

Still, as they push for LTE, the newer technology, expecting a surge in demand as users consume more mobile data, they have to simultaneously pave the way for the most modern 5G in the turn of the decade.

So far, only a handful of operators around the world have tested and rolled out the 4.5G technology, among them, Optus in Australia, Sprint in the US, and Turkcell in Turkey, making Smart one of the first telecommunication companies in the world to test out the new technology.

How fast Smart can deploy 4.5G nationwide will be based on how many can use it in Boracay. “We can do it very quickly,” he confirmed.

The 4.5G technology can speed up data connection via “carrier aggregation,” combining up to three radio frequency bands to deliver bigger bandwidth.